UPDATE II: Turns out the caps are a hoax. Oh well. Hopefully we get something cool for this year’s Midsummer Classic!

UPDATE: Well, good ole Paul Lukas from Uni-Watch has done some digging and apparently players are NOT wearing the pillbox hats during the ASG. Such a shame. Once I know what the pillbox hats are for, I’ll post an update.

Nestled comfortably on the shores of the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky is an enigma of sorts. It’s one part southern, and one part midwestern, but the mixed identity has done nothing to strip the soul out of this treasure of a town. Most associate Louisville with the Kentucky Derby and the horse racing industry; personally, I associate it with a significant part of my childhood. Another part of Louisville that most seldom consider is its importance in the history of baseball. Louisville is one of the oldest professional baseball towns in the United States, and it’s name alone is synonymous with a crucial part of the game (if it takes you more than 3.625 seconds to figure this out, perhaps baseball isn’t your thing.) With that in mind, the final leg of this brief part of the RFTHT tour discovered what Louisville has to offer for baseball fans. From the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory and Louisville Slugger Field home of the Louisville Bats (get it?) it’s a solid baseball town that doesn’t ignore it’s lengthy history in the game and I wanted to see firsthand just what the River City had to offer.

As I mentioned, only old school baseball fans are aware that Louisville used to be a big Major League town during the late 1800s. It’s how the Louisville Slugger was born, but sadly, the city just isn’t large enough to support the MLB-type teams it did when professional baseball was in its infancy. Since the early 1980s however, Louisville has been a permanent home to AAA baseball (the Louisville Colonels, another AAA team, played ball there from 1901 until 1972). The Redbirds called Louisville home until 1999 when they flew south to Memphis and the Riverbats replaced them as Louisville’s home team. After a name change (just the Bats), affiliation change (Cardinals to Brewers to Reds), and a beautiful new home at Louisville Slugger Field, the city once again has a top notch franchise to keep its history strong.

Does Louisville live up to its baseball history or is it all a bunch of hype? Let’s see how Louisville fares as a baseball town in America! Continue reading →

Great American Ballpark is just that, a great place for baseball. A must see!

Cincinnati, Ohio is home to the Cincinnati Reds, winners of five World Series titles and nine National League pennants, and resides in the city that was home to the first professional baseball team. It’s also the only MLB town outside of Atlanta where I’ve been to a game. However, this time was different. My previous encounters in Cincinnati were at Riverfront Stadium, a landmark of a bygone era, and home to the Big Red Machine of the 1970s. The new park–Great American Ballpark–is a park that is fit to house a team with such a storied history. Nestled along the Ohio River just like it’s predecessor, it’s surpasses the previous home of the Reds in almost every way (except for maybe the history).

Since I was going to be in the Northern Kentucky area for a few days, a trip to Cincinnati had to be on the agenda, and with some solid company (thanks to my buddy Zach), we made the journey from Louisville to Cincinnati to check out what their home team had to offer.

Throughout the last year, most of my baseball adventures on RFTHT have been to Minor League games, stopping by towns as small as Rome, Georgia and larger ones like Birmingham, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Cincinnati would be my first adventure in a big city and first (outside of Atlanta) to a Major League park. So let’s see how the Reds treated this “away” fan, as I rooted hard for the Braves. Continue reading →

After a lengthy drive yesterday and a bit of rest this morning, I am getting ready to head out of Louisville and get to Cincinnati to see my home team, the Braves, take on the Reds this evening. The Braves have struggled in this series as their offense has gone totally quiet. Hoping they can reverse their recent fortune tonight!

The Reds are honoring Chipper Jones tonight and presenting him with one of the bases they had made to honor Jones’s career. It’s an unbelievable tribute to one of the all time greats and it goes to show just how respected Jones is throughout the league. I can’t think of another player in recent memory that was honored the way Chipper’s been. Bobby Cox received similar tributes in 2010, but seeing this for a player is an absolute treat. It’s been great to see what teams have done for Chipper as he makes his final regular season visits to ballparks across Major League Baseball.

However, it’s going to be interesting to see what the Phillies have in store for Chipper…

Anyways, today’s ball game starts at 7:10 EDT and I’ll be live tweeting from the game, so follow me!

Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati is one of the three beautiful parks I’ll be checking out over the next 10 days.

As the summer heat approaches, the Root for the Home Team adventure continues with not one, but three games between May 20 and May 27. I’ll be seeing games from three separate levels (AA, AAA, and MLB) over the next 10 days, and I couldn’t be more excited. First stop is one of the oldest teams in baseball, the Chattanooga Lookouts. I’ve never been to a Lookouts game but I’ve heard nothing but stellar things from friends and baseball fans who have ventured to see the 126 year old franchise. AT&T Park seems like a great place to catch a game, is right on the river and across the street from the Tennessee Aquarium and I’m looking forward to enjoying the Dodgers’ AA team take on the Huntsville Stars (who I saw last season in Huntsville). Continue reading →